Maserati Quattroporte 2004-2013 review

The fifth generation of Quattroporte gets a V8 engine and Pininfarina-penned body

The bootlid and bonnet are made of aluminium, the rest of the Quattroporte is crafted from steel

The handsome, well-finished dashboard is festooned with buttons

Plenty of space and plenty of seat adjustment make the Quattroporte a rear passengers dream

The V8 motor delivers satisfyingly serious grunt, but it is marred by a default drive mode of the gearbox

There's a surprisingly small boot in the Quattroporte's rear, which is dwarfed even by a 3-Series

Broken tarmac is the Quattroporte's Achilles heel thanks to its overly-firm suspension settings

Agile turn in and exemplary body control is afforded by high-quality adaptive dampers

The finest Maserati saloon ever made, but the Quattroporte is some distance from the masterpiece it might have been

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The Frua-styled 260bhp quad-cam V8 Maserati Quattroporte 1 was 1963’s fastest four-door. With a heavy Bertone body and 190bhp V6, its 1975 successor attracted just five buyers in two years.

A year on and the Quattroporte 3 revived V8 power and rear drive. With a new name – Royale – the ItalDesign-penned car soldiered on until 1987. There followed a seven-year wait for the Quattroporte 4 designed by Gandini, whose turbocharged V6 and V8 engines kept it alive until 2001.